Circuit breaker



s. c. McKEOWN. cmcun BREAKER.

APPLICATiON FILED MAR. 3,1919.

Patented Jan. 3, 1922.

nwmron jfirz. C. M: KEUNN' ATTOHNH UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL C. MOKEOWN, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T0 SPLITDORCE ELECTRICAL COMPANY, OF NEWARK, NW JERSEY.

CIRCUIT BREAKER. 7

Specification of Letters iatent.

Patented Jan. 3, 1922.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL C. MoKnowN, a Citizen of the United States, residing at East Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Circuit Breaker, of which the following is a specification.

In the operation of'circuit breakers, particularly in connection with ignition circuits used on the modern high speed engines, a

great deal of attention must be given to the operation of the circuit breaker at the higher or maximum speeds. In many types of circuit breakers the movable member has considerable inertia'and in order toovercome this inertia athigh speeds, a strong controlling spring must be used. This means that the wear on the circuit breaker parts is bound to be excessive. Where light moving parts are used in the breaker, a good contact is hard to obtain.

It is the principal object of my invention to provide a circuit breaker which will op erate at extremely high speeds regardless of the periodicity or sluggishness of the main control spring, and in which the movable member is of good rigid construction.

Another object of my invention is to provide means for obtaining a slight rubbing at the contact-s without undue wear.

Another object of my invention is to provide a movable member which is positively operated and in which means is presented to relieve the blow when contacts are closed.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a breaker which provides a quick opening of the contacts.

Other and further objects of my invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art after a study of the specification taken in connection with the drawings, wherein Figure 1 is an enlarged view of my circuit breaker with the contacts closed.

Figure 2 is a similar view to Figure 1 but with the movable members in a slightly different position.

Figure 3 shows the movable parts in a still different position, while Figure 4 illustrates the movable parts in another position with the contacts in their full open position. The application of the circuit breaker to a high tension ignition machine is also illustrated diagrammatically in this figure.

spectively.

'tened to the limb 7 by required with my ci shown as pivotally mounted at 5 has two limbs 6 and 7 carrying bumpers 8 and 9 re- These bumpers are preferably made of friction wearing material, such as fiber. A projecting arm 10 extends from the limb 7 and terminates in a hook 11. Fasa screw 12 is a spring 13 carrying a contact 14 in alignment with the contact 2. The spring 13 extends substantially parallel with the projecting arm 10 to a point where its free end is within the hook 11 for a purpose hereinafter pointed out. .15 is an operating cam carried on the shaft of the ignition generator and adapted to act on the bumpers 8 and 9 to actuate the movable member 4. While I have shown a six lobe cam, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the use of this type of a cam as the invention may be used in other types of symmetrical cams.

In the operation of my circuit breaker, let it be assumed that the cam is rotating in the direction of the arrow. As shown in Figure l, the lobe 16 of the cam 15 is approaching the bumper 9 and the contacts 14 and 2 have just closed. As the cam 15 rotates a little farther the lobe 16 acts on the bumper 9 to actuate the movable member 4 so that the hook 11 leaves the end of the spring 13 and the spring 13 is flexed. hen the lobe 16 reaches the position shown in Figure 8, the spring 13 is flexed to its maximum position which, on account of the enlarged size of the breaker, is shown somewhat exaggerated in this figure. Directly after the lobe 16 passes the bumper 9, the contacts 14 and 15 are rocked back to normal position due to the tension in spring 13 and the lobe 17 then engages the bumper 8 causing the hook 11 to engage the end of the spring 13 sharply to separate the contacts 14 and 2 as shown in Figure 4. It will be seen that engagement of the cam 15 with the bumper 9 positively actuates'the circuit breaker to assure the closure of the contacts 14 and 2 so that the usual controlling spring is not absolutely rcuit breaker. While the pivot 5 is usually grounded to the frame of the ignition generator, it is preferable to use a grounding strip from the movable memher a: to the frame of the generator and While using such a grounding means, I'prefer to use, it in the form of a main controlling. spring 18 whichhasone end fastened to some part of the frame, as 19, and the other end to the member 1-, preferably by the same fastening means: that holds the contact spring 13 there; in fact',the springs 13 and 18 may Well be in one piece so that in either case 13 is in reality an extension of the spring-18. The spring 18, therefore, assists in the operation of the movable breaker member and at the same time has a tendency to prevent the arm from vibrating and also acts to prevent lost motion inthe breaker;

I have shown in Figure 4, the application ofmy circuit breaker to an ignition generator of the high tension typein which the induction coil consistingof a primary P and secondary S with a c ondenser C across-the breaker points. Itwill be understood, however, that my circuit breaker may be used: in

other circuit arrangements. It Will also be understood that various changes may be made in the details Without departing from the spirit of'my invention and the scope of the appended claims. i

Having thus described my invention, What I claim is-:- V

1. In a circuit breaker the combination of,"

a stationary member carrying a contact, a

rmovable member having a main controlling spring and carrying a flexibly mounted contact adapted to cooperate with the first mentioned contact, a pair of bumpers for actuatc-n'one of said bumpers to assist the controlling spring to close said contacts and for subsequently acting on the other bumper to separate the contacts against the elfort of the controlling spring, said "controlling spring and flexible mounting for oneof said contacts being fastened to the movablemember at a common point by the same means.

2. In a circuit breaker the combination of,

a stationary member carrying an adjustable ring said movable member, a cam for acting spring being fastened to themovable memher at the point Where thefleXible member is attached to the movable member.

. In Witness whereof, I afiiX my signature. I SAMUEL 'O. McKEQl VN. 

